Folk Theatre Pandwani

ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 8170175399

ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-8170175391

In this volume, Niranjan Mahawar documents the remarkable transformation of Pandwani from a long, ritualistic ballad of the Pradhan Gond tribe into a major monodramatic theatre form of Chhattisgarh. The book explores the "weeding out" of original Gond myths and ethnographic elements as the art form evolved toward a more classical structure.

Pandawani is a monodramatic form of chhatisgarh which originated among the Pradhan gond tribe as a long ballad. Gradally it evolved into a theatre form. In its original form it contained many Gond myths and ethnographic elements. But gradually those elements were weeded out and the theatrical performers adopted the text of the Mahabharata of Sabal Singh Chauhan which is in Avadhi language and written in 'Doha-Choupai' metres. The beauty of the form is every performers improvises the text in his own way and everyone has his own way and everyone has his own style of performance. Pandwani theatre now is estabilished throughout the world. In the year 1984, 1985, 1987 and 1988 Madhya Pradesh Adivasi Lokkala Academy organized Pandwani festivals at Bhopal, Raipur, Durg and Raipur respectively. In this search programme more than 50 pandwani parties were identified. This shows that unlike other folk theatre forms of India, Pandwani is still flourishing.

Mahawar highlights a critical linguistic and literary shift: the adoption of Sabal Singh Chauhan’s Mahabharata. By analyzing how performers integrated this Avadhi text—structured in traditional 'Doha-Chaupai' meters—into their performances, the author illustrates how Pandwani bridged the gap between tribal oral traditions and the wider literary world of the Indian epic. It is a vital record of how a localized tribal performance became a celebrated theatrical tradition on the national stage.